High Notes, Vol 17 No 15, May 27 2016

High TalentCongratulations to Thomas Shortridge (12R) who was selected in
the Australian Schools Debating Team to compete in Germany in July. James Siu (10M) won gold in
the Cadet Mens Sabre at the Sea Pacific championships in the Phillipines. Congratulations, James!
Well done to Kieran Guan (8R) who placed 2nd at the Asian Open Ice Racing Championships, 333m;
and 3rd in the 500m super final. Kieran is a short track specialist and a member of the
Australian Elite Development Team. Arthur Chao (12R) won a business case solution competition
sponsored by AusCase and the prize is a trip to Harvard. Great work, Arthur! Manson Luk (11F), at
the NSW Taekwondo Championships, won a gold medal in the Male 3rd Dan black belt individual 15-17
years and gold in the mixed gender black belt team event 15-17 years. Congratulations, Manson!
Finley Hayhurst (12T) was selected into the Combined GPS football team to join Marcus and Thomas.
The Museum of Contemporary Art selected 24 young people from across Sydney to act as a critical
advisory body to the museum, as well as to plan, develop and promote events. James Lin (12R) and
Dylan Goh (12E) were selected to work at the MCA in this group. Well done, boys! Congratulations
to Archie Fox (10T) who was selected in the CHS U16s for rugby union. Our open basketball team
defeated Illawarra Sports High to progress to the last 8 of the CHS Basketball Knockout
competition. Well done, boys! Hugh Bartley (11R), Akheed Ahmed Ramzi (11R) and Darmesh Sharma
(11S) won the Regional MUNA competition as Indonesia. They now progress to the Nationals in
Canberra.

Weights Room Memberships ClosedThe Weights Room is no longer accepting any
payments for the rest of the year. Next year, boys wanting to avail themselves of this
opportunity will have to pay before 28 February in order to access membership of the Weights
Room. Kurt Rich trains boys in how to lift weights properly. He supervises their training
sessions and will implement personalised or sport-specific weights training on request from
coaches or MICs. Understandably, he wants a fixed clientele to develop.

"We gather here today on Gadigal land. The Gadigal clan, people of the Eora nation, occupied an
area from South Head to what is now Petersham in the West and Cook’s River in the South. I
pay my respects to Gadigal people past and present and to their elders.

"Each year at this time we turn our thoughts towards reconciliation on National Sorry Day,
celebrated on 26 May each year. Originally the day commemorated one year since the
publication of the Bringing Them Home Report of 1997, which addressed the issue of the
‘Stolen Generations’- the forced removal of aboriginal children from their
parents. As a beginning to the reconciliation process the report recommended establishing
such a day so that the Australian community would have an opportunity to be involved in
activities that acknowledged the impact of the policies of forcible removal on Australia’s
indigenous population. On Sunday 29 May 2000, 250,000 people participated in the Corroboree
Bridge Walk highlighting the lack of an official apology from the Australian Government to
indigenous Australians. Since 2005, the official title for Sorry Day is a National Day
of Healing for All Australians. Somehow, it doesn’t sound as appropriate.
We should all focus on why we are sorry for what was done by governments in our name.

"As we work through our years of celebration for the centenary of the Great War 1914-18 we should
spare a thought for the 1,000 indigenous soldiers who fought for their country. Originally,
many aborigines were not allowed to enlist on the grounds of race. By 1917, with voluntary
enlistment waning, restrictions were relaxed. For most of the volunteers it was the first
time that they had been treated as people serving under the same conditions as white people and
being paid 6/- a day. By all accounts aboriginal soldiers were accepted by their fellows without
significant prejudice.

"Ironically, they all returned to discrimination and prejudice that was arguably worse than
before they left. One veteran was not only denied his pay packet and his pension, but also given
back the same rags he was wearing when he volunteered and sent back to work on a station as if
the death trenches, mud and shelling had never happened. On their return home indigenous veterans
did not see ‘a land fit for heroes to live in’. They were still
non-citizens. They still could not vote. Only one was allocated land under the
‘soldier settlement scheme’.

"Given their circumstances why did they serve? Some did so spurred by patriotism and
loyalty. Others saw the war as an opportunity to prove they were as good as white
soldiers. Some saw the war as just. Some thought serving might help to advance the
cause of indigenous rights. Others sought adventure, escape from their living conditions or
a paid overseas experience.

"During the war at least a third of all enlisted Aboriginal men died in battle or of their
wounds. Significant acts of bravery were acknowledged in the awarding of Distinguished
Conduct Medals to Corporal Albert Knight and Private William Irwin. Nonetheless, returning
Aboriginal soldiers were denied entry into RSL Clubs and hotels and most went back to their
former lives in indigenous communities or on mission stations. In recent times, Pastor Ray
Minniecon launched the Coloured Diggers Project to establish and ATSI Honour Board, recording the
soldier’s names and tribal groups. Its title is a telling pun: ‘The Best we
Forgot’.

"The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commemorative Ceremony is held each ANZAC Day at Mount
Ainslie in Canberra to honour all indigenous Australians who served in the Australian forces
since 1901. It is hosted by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans and Services
Association (ATSIVA). It is a positive contribution to the story of our nation for
indigenous soldiers to be honoured. There is also a push to recognise the sacrifice of the
estimated 30,000 aborigines who died during the Frontier Wars which were fought for one hundred
years. They included: Hawkesbury/Nepean 1790-1816; Black Wars 1803-1830 Tasmania;
Port Phillip District 1830-1850; Kalkadoon Wars 1870-1980 (Queensland) and the Western Australian
Conflict 1890-1898. The invasion narrative in Australia is not given the prominence it
deserves in explaining how Australia has evolved.

"During our National Reconciliation Week (27/5-3/6) we turn our thoughts to the concept of
reconciliation and to how we can move forward as a society by acknowledging past wrongs and
setting a better framework for relationships with the indigenous community in the future.
Respectful relationships are what we all seek. So, on this National Sorry Day, I want to
say ‘sorry’ to the indigenous Australians who served in the frontier wars and in the
nation’s wars since the Boer War. Their struggle, service and sacrifice have not been
honoured appropriately and commitments made were not kept after their homecoming. I say
sorry also to the descendants of these veterans. It is easy to empathise with their
understandable sense of injustice and betrayal.

"For healing to progress we have to demonstrate as a society that we acknowledge our historical
transgressions, that we reject racial discrimination, that we are serious about building
respectful relationships and that we honour the contributions of all our citizens. Each year at
the end of May we should pause to reflect on the cost of our nation building –
dispossession of tribal lands – and of our racism – shameful treatment of a proud but
conquered people."Dr K A Jaggar
Principal